Bonnyville, unofficially known to many in the region as “Hockeyville,” received a cheque for $25,000 on Friday night for finishing as a finalist in the 2015 Kraft Hockeyville competition.
“It feels great to finally have this big cheque in my hands,” said Amanda Cumby, the leader behind Bonnyville's 2015 Kraft Hockeyville bid.
“It is a very big sigh of relief after all the hard work. It feels good to finally have something for (all the work).”
A wave of pride seemed to overtake the community in early 2015, as hockey lovers of all ages came together to try and make Bonnyville “Hockeyville.”
People voted early and often online during the short voting period in March and April and the community was able to come together to get Bonnyville a berth in the Top 10.
“Bonnyville is great. The community rallies around almost every initiative that is out there. They rallied around Hockeyville and it was fantastic,” said Centennial Centre Manager Gary Krawchuk.
Krawchuk is hoping to use the $25,000 to purchase a new dehumidification system for the RJ Lalonde arena, as the current system is aged and is causing the ice in the local arena to deteriorate.
“The dehumidification unit that we have keeps up in low capacity conditions, but when you try and make it run at a higher capacity it just falls short and can't keep up,” said Krawchuk.
The unit is critical to creating quality ice. An upgrade to they system would ensure the RJ Lalonde arena could house a quality ice surface at any time of the year.
The current dehumidifier in use at the RJ Lalonde Arena was installed in 2003 and has been operating for the past 12 years. While the system is able to handle a quiet arena in the middle of winter, the large crowds during the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs extended playoff run hampered the system.
“The dehumidification system will help with the quality of the ice. It won't be as slow,” said Krawchuk. “It will help minor hockey, figure skating, the Pontiacs, it will help everybody. It is a great enhancement to the community.”
According to Krawchuk, the price tag on a new dehumidification system is approximately $146,000. With the $25,000 prize money in the C2's back pocket, they still will need to see roughly $121,000 covered by the Town and MD.
While the municipalities and the C2 will still have a large chunk of money to come up with to complete the project, many are excited to have been apart of a huge community rally-point the Hockeyville contest proved to be.
“It was absolutely amazing to be apart of something like that and to have that feeling of community,” said Cumby. “It is an opportunity that I am very glad I was apart.”
Krawchuck feels the prize money is going to go along way to ensuring the project gets complete, as any funds they can take off the $146,000 are welcomed.
“I think the $25,000 is fantastic,” said Krawchuk. “I have to congratulate Amanda who took the initiative to take on the project, make the submission and (follow through).”
The project is expected to come before both Bonnyville and the MD of Bonnyville councils later on in the year when they are debating their 2016 budgets. The two council's will have to try and find roughly $120,000 to fund the upgrade.
